Animal Improvement

Muhtasari

Two farms keep the same breed of chicken. One farmer's birds lay eggs at twice the rate of the other's, reach market weight weeks sooner, and shrug off diseases that keep knocking the neighbour's flock back. The difference is rarely luck or better luck with the weather. It is animal improvement: the deliberate, generation-on-generation reshaping of a population's genetic makeup so that more of its members carry the alleles that make a farm animal worth keeping.

In this lesson you will learn exactly what animal improvement means, how it differs from simply producing more animals, the five objectives every improvement programme chases, and the benefits it delivers both to the individual farmer's pocket and to a nation that must feed itself. You will also learn to reason through real breeding decisions the way a farm manager, and a WAEC examiner, expects.

Malengo

  1. Define animal improvement
  2. State the objectives of animal improvement
  3. Explain the benefits of animal improvement to a farmer
  4. Explain the benefits of animal improvement to the nation
  5. Distinguish between animal improvement and animal production

Maelezo ya Somo

A poultry keeper in Ogbomoso and a poultry keeper in Kaduna both start with the Niger Local chicken, the same indigenous stock their grandparents kept. Ten years on, one flock still lays about sixty eggs a bird a year and takes six months to reach a sellable weight. The other lays over one hundred and fifty and reaches the same weight in under twelve weeks. Nothing about the local climate changed; what changed was which birds were allowed to breed, generation after generation. That is animal improvement at work.

Tathmini ya Somo

Hongera kwa kukamilisha somo la Animal Improvement. Sasa kwa kuwa umechunguza dhana na mawazo muhimu, ni wakati wa kuweka ujuzi wako kwa mtihani. Sehemu hii inatoa mazoezi mbalimbali maswali yaliyoundwa ili kuimarisha uelewaji wako na kukusaidia kupima ufahamu wako wa nyenzo.

Utakutana na mchanganyiko wa aina mbalimbali za maswali, ikiwemo maswali ya kuchagua jibu sahihi, maswali ya majibu mafupi, na maswali ya insha. Kila swali limebuniwa kwa umakini ili kupima vipengele tofauti vya maarifa yako na ujuzi wa kufikiri kwa makini.

Tumia sehemu hii ya tathmini kama fursa ya kuimarisha uelewa wako wa mada na kubaini maeneo yoyote ambapo unaweza kuhitaji kusoma zaidi. Usikatishwe tamaa na changamoto zozote utakazokutana nazo; badala yake, zitazame kama fursa za kukua na kuboresha.

  1. Animal improvement is best described as: A. Keeping more animals on the same land B. The deliberate change of a population's genetic makeup over generations to enhance desirable traits C. Feeding animals a better ration D. Building better housing for livestock Answer: B
  2. Which of the following is NOT one of the objectives of animal improvement? A. Higher yield B. Better feed conversion C. Lower stocking density D. Disease resistance Answer: C
  3. A farmer's cost per egg falls after his flock's egg output rises while his feed and labour cost stays the same. This is chiefly an example of which benefit of animal improvement? A. Export potential B. Food security C. Lower cost per unit of output D. Adaptation to local conditions Answer: C
  4. Which of these is a national, rather than a purely individual farmer, benefit of animal improvement? A. Higher household income B. Food security C. Personal satisfaction D. Lower feed bill on one farm Answer: B
  5. How does animal improvement differ from animal production? A. They mean exactly the same thing B. Improvement is the genetic change of a population across generations; production is the general management of livestock for output C. Production only concerns crops, not livestock D. Improvement happens in a single season while production takes many years Answer: B

Maswali ya Zamani

Unajiuliza maswali ya zamani kuhusu mada hii yanaonekanaje? Hapa kuna idadi ya maswali kuhusu Animal Improvement kutoka miaka iliyopita.

Swali 1 Ripoti

(a) Define the term animal improvement.

 

(b) Explain briefly the following terms as used in animal improvement:

  • cross breeding;
  • out-breeding. 

 

(d) Complete the table below:

Farm animal

Name of mature female

Gestation period (days)

Sheep

  ……………………

  ……………………..

Pig

  ……………………

 ……………………..

Rabbit

   ……………………

  ……………………..